It was unclear whether the second one was helping, hindering or just hitching a ride.

Much further on, at Klopperfontein, three young male lions had caught a young buffalo

Their faces and forepaws were masked and gloved in blood and gore.

A short way up the road, a perfectly camouflaged chameleon was crossing the road

We were photographing it when a large SUV, speeding towards the lions, drove right over it. I shut my eyes in horror. When I opened them again I saw that it was miraculously unharmed.

We made sure it got safely across the road and continued on our way.

At Crooks Corner the Limpopo River was in full flow

It was every bit as great, grey-green and greasy as Rudyard Kipling had described it.

And it was all set about with fever trees

On the drive back, after lunch, it began to drizzle.

By the time we crossed the Shingwidzi River the day had turned cold and misty.

We stopped there to watch a troop of baboons. They were lapping the rain from the surface of the road

Just beyond the turn off to Tshanga, the Baobab was beautifully backlit

Back at Bateleur we lit a fire.

We braaied some delicious Hoedspruit wors and hubbard squash. When we had eaten, we leant back in our chairs. We sat in silence, staring at the flames as they flared and flickered in the dark. Sipping a slow whisky, letting the peace and perfection of our surroundings wash over us, we were bathed in the beauty of the bushveld night.

On the way there we noticed some lovely lilies that lit the green grass with splashes of bright pink

On the S100 between, Satara and Nwanedzi, lay a lone lion

On the way back home, near Balule, a pair of impala lay in mirror image

Balule was exposed as never before.

The river, from within the little camp, had always been obscured from view by vegetation. Now, thanks to the flood, every bush, shrub and rush had been ripped and stripped from the bank. The old rustic rondavels had become rooms with a view.

Thank you, tent dweller, Cape of Storms, Meandering Mouse, Trrp-trrrrrrrr, hilda, barryels, john n poppy and all the other people who have read and commented on this travel tale of mine.

It has been great fun to put together, but more time consuming than I imagined it would be. You may have noticed that the tempo suddenly increased in the last couple of weeks. No more dawdling along, as I zipped through our last days. The tale needed to be wrapped up in a hurry because after all the planning and anticipation the next time is . . . Now!!!

My leave started tonight and we set off tomorrow night. We shall be in the Park again this weekend.